iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting CD issues caused by device filters

Resolution

Overview

The steps outlined in this article are advanced and should only be attempted after having already attempted all other available troubleshooting information. Before continuing, review the following important notes:

• If you are having problems burning CDs, you should follow steps in the following articles first:
  • Can't burn a CD in iTunes for Windows
    
  • iTunes for Windows: Additional troubleshooting tips for burning issues
• Do you see the following alert when opening iTunes?

  "Warning! The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning CDs & DVDs are missing. This can happen as a result of installing other CD burning software. Please reinstall iTunes."

  If so, this indicates that the device filter that iTunes installs is missing. To resolve this issue, follow steps in iTunes for Windows: "Registry settings" warning when opening iTunes.

• The steps in this article involve making changes to the Windows Registry using the Registry Editor (Regedit). Even if you are very comfortable editing the registry, you should make a backup of the registry prior to editing it. Making mistakes in Regedit can cause strange behavior and can even prevent Windows from starting. The changes may cause the software that installed the entries to not work correctly until you restore the entries. Follow the appropriate article below for steps on how to back up your Windows Registry.
  
  • How to back up, edit, and restore the Windows Registry in Windows XP
  • How to back up the Windows Registry in Windows Vista
  • How to back up the Windows Registry in Windows 7

Steps

Disable device filters not manufactured by Apple:

If you have exhausted all other available troubleshooting articles and feel that you may have a conflict with a third-party device filter, follow the steps below to remove all third-party device filters while retaining the device filter installed by iTunes.

1. Open Registry Editor:
   XP: From the Start menu choose Run. In the resulting dialog,  type "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK.
   Vista: From the Start menu, in the Start Search dialog, type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
   Windows 7: From the Start menu, in the "Search programs and files" dialog, type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
2. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue.
3. Click the plus sign (XP) or arrow (Vista and Windows 7) next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to expand its contents.
4. Expand the contents of SYSTEM.
5. Expand the contents of CurrentControlSet.
6. Expand the contents of Control.
7. Expand the contents of Class.
8. Click to select (you just need to highlight this folder) the heading that begins with "{4D36E965-".  It should look like this:
   
9. From the File menu, choose Export.
10. In the dialog box that appears, make sure the "Selected branch" option is enabled. Then, save the file somewhere that you can find it later, such as the desktop; this is a backup of this Windows Registry key. You should keep this in case you need to reimport your original settings later.
11. On the right side of the Registry Editor window, right-click the LowerFilters value and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
    
    Note: If you don't see a LowerFilters value; continue to the next step.
12. On the right side of the Registry Editor window, right-click the UpperFilters value and choose Modify... from the shortcut menu.
    
    

    If the UpperFilters value is missing, follow these instructions:

    1. Right-click the empty white space within the right side of the Registry Editor window (shown below). From the shortcut menu, choose New > Multi-String Value.
       
    2. Name this new value "UpperFilters" (without quotes).
    3. Right-click the newly created UpperFilters value and choose Modify from the shortcut menu.
       
13. Select the entire contents of the text in the "Value data" text field.
    
14. Right-click the selected text and choose Cut from the shortcut menu.
15. Type "GEARAspiWDM" (without quotes) in the "Value data" text field and press Enter.
    
16. Click OK.
17. Restart the computer.

If this resolves the issue, it indicates that a device filter entry from third-party CD or DVD software, such as CD burning software, was creating a conflict with the optical drive software installed with iTunes. At this point, this third-party software may not work until it is reinstalled. In order to avoid running into the conflict again, check to see if there is an updated version of your third-party CD or DVD software before reinstalling.

If this does not resolve the issue, you can return your Windows Registry to the way it was before by following the steps:

1. Open Registry Editor:
   XP: From the Start menu choose Run. In the resulting dialog,  type "regedit" (without quotes) and click OK.
   Vista: From the Start menu, in the Start Search dialog, type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
   Windows 7: From the Start menu, in the "Search programs and files" dialog, type "regedit" (without quotes) and press Enter.
2. If Windows needs your permission to continue, click Continue.
3. From the File menu, choose Import. Locate the file that you exported above in step #9 and import it.. 
4. Exit Registry Editor and restart the computer.